If you happened to be reading a German article about a bracelet that Mick Jagger was wearing while recording the 1965 album Rolling Stones Vol. 2, you could potentially see the word Band appear three different times in single sentence, and yet the word would mean three very different things. That's a pretty unlikely scenario, but aren't you at least a little bit curious about the fact that there is a der, die and das Band?

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The masculine noun der Band is probably the least common of the three, and is a term primarily used with publications, such as a volume in a book series.

Seine Arbeit hat er jetzt im Bildband „Werbung gegen Realität" veröffentlicht.

He has published his work in an illustrated volume "Advertising versus Reality.”

Caption 34, Werbung gegen Realität - Kunstprojekt Fertigprodukte

 Play Caption

The plural of der Band is die Bände.

The neuter noun das Band has the largest variety of applications and possible translations: 

Allerdings ist es nicht das erste Band, das in diesem Jahr feierlich durchtrennt wurde.

However, this is not the first ribbon that was ceremoniously cut this year.

Caption 22, Rund um den Flughafen - Direktflug Frankfurt-Houston

 Play Caption

Das wird bei denen auf Band aufgezeichnet.

Because that is then recorded by them on tape.

Caption 57, Frankfurter Flughafen - Flugzeugschlepper

 Play Caption

Rund fünfundsiebzigtausend Exemplare liefen insgesamt vom Band.

Around seventy-five thousand specimens left the assembly line.

Caption 35, Porsche 356 - Der erste Porsche

 Play Caption

Das würde dann halt irgendwelche Bänder kosten da, wenn ich Pech hab'.

That would cost some ligaments then, if I'm unlucky.

Caption 91, Lokalhelden - Mini-Airplane - Part 2

 Play Caption

Note that the plural of das Band is die Bänder. Das Band is also used in a number of compound nouns, such as das Tonband (recording tape), das Fließband (assembly line or conveyer belt), das Armband (bracelet), das Halsband (collar or necklace), das Gummiband (rubber band) and many others. 

And now to return to the Rolling Stones with the feminine noun die Band:

Die Band mit den spröden Songs und den klaren, ehrlichen Texten…

The band with the rough songs and the clear, honest lyrics…

Caption 9, Pankow - Rolling Stones des Ostens

 Play Caption

Und weil die in ganz vielen Bands gespielt haben…

And because they played in a lot of bands…

Caption 23, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 3

 Play Caption

Thus die Band singular becomes die Bands plural, just as in English.

So to simply round it all up:
— der Band (die Bände) is mostly about publications; 
— das Band (die Bänder) is mostly about things relating to belts and rubber bands, etc.
— die Band (die Bands) is about music groups.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Look at these many examples of compound words containing Band and see if you can find them on Yabla German to see them used in a real world context.

The landmark writer's guide The Elements of Style states that you should "not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready, and able." German, however, has quite a number of words that "are so long that they have a perspective," as Mark Twain once wrote. The longest word actually included in the Duden German dictionary is die Kraft­fahr­zeug-Haft­pflicht­ver­si­che­rung (auto liability insurance), with 35 letters. There are, however, many longer words that are acceptable to use although not listed in Duden, such as die Verkehrsinfrastrukturfinanzierungsgesellschaft (traffic infrastructure financing society) and das Elektrizitätswirtschaftsorganisationsgesetz (electricity economy organization law). Such "20 euro" words are not only found in written German, but also in spoken German, as evidenced by these Yabla German videos!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Auf Weltmeisterschaftsebene

At World Cup level,

sind wir so Mittelfeld, unteres Mittelfeld...

we are about midfield, lower midfield...

Caption 70, Frisbee - Karlsruher Weihnachtsturnier

 Play Caption

Außerdem kann man hierzulande

In addition, in this country you can

manche Reisestrecke auch ohne Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung erfahren.

also experience some travel routes without a speed limit.

Captions 22-23, Reiseland Deutschland - Vielfalt im Herzen Europas

 Play Caption

Wir haben die gesetzliche Verpflichtung,

We have the legal obligation

regelmäßig die Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkungen auf den hessischen Autobahnen zu überprüfen.

to check the speed limits on the Hessian autobahns regularly.

Captions 10-11, Deutsche Autobahnen - Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen

 Play Caption

Ein Porsche dreihundertsechsundfünfzig B eintausendsechshundert GS

A Porsche three hundred fifty-six B one thousand six hundred GS

Carrera GTL Coupé, Baujahr neunzehnhundertsechzig mit Note eins hat somit laut Classic Data

Carrera GTL coupé, built in nineteen hundred sixty with a grade of one, according to Classic Data

einen Versicherungswert von sechshundertfünfzigtausend Euro.

has an insurance value of six hundred and fifty thousand euros.

Captions 57-59, Porsche 356 - Der erste Porsche

 Play Caption

So as you can see, in common conversation about sports and cars and numbers (or a combination thereof), it is possible to find some "mouthfuls" indeed. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Read some of these fun articles about long German words at The Week and Time, and if you are feeling brave, read this Duden article about writing words together or separately. 

A pseudo-anglicism describes a word borrowed from English but used in other languages in ways that native speakers may not easily understand. For a native English speaker learning German, these pseudo English words can be a common source of misunderstanding, and German has more than its fair share of them!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Most people would think of a "cutter" as someone in the clothing trade who cuts cloth, or a cutting machine or a boat, but in German der Cutter (or in this case, die Cutterin) has a different primary meaning:

Es gibt eine Regie, es gibt einen Tontechniker, es gibt eine Cutterin.

There is a director, there is a sound technician, there is an [female] editor.

Caption 32, Christian Brückner - Synchronstimme von Robert De Niro

 Play Caption

If somebody offers to play Flipper with you in German, they aren't talking about playing with a talking dolphin:

Früher, da stand in jeder anständigen Kneipe ein Flipper.

There used to be a pinball machine in every decent pub.

Caption 19, Flipperautomaten - Kunstwerke für flinke Kugeln

 Play Caption

If a German speaker ever asks you to find out about an Oldtimer, he doesn't mean an old man:

Sie sammelt sämtliche Informationen über Oldtimer.

It gathers all the information about classic cars.

Caption 39, Porsche 356 - Der erste Porsche

 Play Caption

In English news, a Shooting would be a tragic event, but in German:

Ich nehm' euch mit auf die coolsten Shootings.

I'll take you along to the coolest [photo] shoots.

Caption 10, Palina Rojinski - News for Original Girls

 Play Caption

The German word Shooting is short for Fotoshooting, whose meaning should be pretty obvious by now!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Das Happy End, das Handy, das No-Go, das Public Viewing, der Smoking — the list of German words based on misconstrued English is a long one. Take a look at German Wikipedia and see if you can find some "fake English" words used in context on Yabla German.